Like Kissing Her Brother
by foobar137
Summary: Eleven-year-old girls get over their crushes all the time; Isabella was no different. Now in high school, a chance comment by Ginger has Phineas wondering if he missed something way back when, and if maybe it's time to try it after all... A stand-alone story of volleyball, bad dates, and the hazards of making promises to yourself.
1. Plus ça change

**What if Isabella got over her crush? Most eleven-year-old girls do, after all.**

**Now it's junior year of high school, and Phineas and Isabella are best friends. Nothing romantic between them at all.**

**Yet.**

**(What, you were expecting me to ship him with Adyson?)**

**Contains background Ginger/Baljeet and Ferb/Vanessa. I think this is in the same timeline as Mistletoe Is Serious Business, but it doesn't really have any major effect on this story.**

**Timeline: October, junior year of high school. Phineas and the gang are all about sixteen; Vanessa is twenty-one. OCs are appropriately aged for their school year.**

* * *

Ferb walked to lunch from physics class, Ginger and Baljeet following right behind him holding hands. As he approached the table that Phineas and Isabella had staked out, he heard them talking.

"...a flying centaur? Really?" Phineas asked, incredulous.

"I was eleven. It made sense at the time," Isabella responded with a grin.

"Wow. You really did have a massive crush on me. How did I never notice?"

"Because you were the most oblivious boy ever to walk the earth," Ferb said, taking a seat next to his brother. Ginger, Baljeet, and Isabella all nodded agreement.

"Huh. Well, it was probably for the best, under the circumstances. I don't think either of us were really ready for a relationship, and if we'd tried, it might have messed up our friendship," Phineas said.

Isabella sighed. "Yeah, I don't think it could have ended well. Although if anyone could have pulled off the flying centaur look, it'd have been you. Much better as friends, though."

Ginger laughed. "Oh, come on. You two should totally try going out. You're not eleven anymore. Neither of you is dating anyone. Neither of you has ever managed more than two dates with anyone else."

Isabella protested, "Hey, I had more than two dates with Billy."

"Yeah, it was three," Phineas noted.

Isabella glared at him. "You're not helping."

Phineas cowered under her glare with a smile on his face. "Still two more than I've ever had," he said.

Baljeet interjected, "Seriously, why not try it? It worked for Ginger and me." The short Indian boy gave his girlfriend a smile, and continued, "If it does not work, then you can just stay friends, and if it does work, then you have so much more."

Phineas looked like he was trying to come up with a counter-argument. Isabella looked at him and shook her head. "We've been such good friends for so long...I think it'd feel like kissing my brother. If I had a brother."

* * *

In the locker room, Isabella and Ginger got ready for their volleyball game that afternoon. Once she was dressed, Isabella went over to Ginger's locker, where the Japanese teen was pulling on her knee pads.

"Ginger, I love you like a sister, but if you _ever_ suggest I start dating Phineas again, I'm going to strangle you."

Alyssa, the team captain, laughed from the next locker over. "You know, he's come to every game since you joined the team as a freshman, and half the team parties, and I can't say I've ever seen any romantic inclinations between you two."

Isabella sighed. "I had a huge crush on him when I was eleven, and he never noticed. I got pretty badly hurt."

Ginger chimed in, "I remember Valentine's Day. You were a wreck. But that was years ago."

"I promised myself I'd never fall in love with him again," Isabella continued. "He's my best friend, and I just can't let myself see him as anything more."

Marie, a brunette sophomore on the other side of Alyssa, said, "He's kind of cute. You don't mind if I ask him to the after-game party, then?"

Isabella shoved down an unexpected protest from the back of her head. "No, not at all. Go right ahead."

* * *

Phineas watched the volleyball team taking the court. He hadn't ever really paid attention to how well Isabella filled out the tight shirt and tighter shorts that made up her uniform, her long black hair in a ponytail to keep it out of the way - for whatever reason, he'd never really thought of Isabella as a _girl_. She was his best friend, not someone he'd ever considered as a potential girlfriend, because ever since he'd started thinking about dating girls, she'd never given him any reason to think she'd be interested. But now that she'd revealed her old crush, and the conversation with Ginger and Baljeet had him thinking along those lines, he had a hard time taking his eyes off of her.

_Down, boy. She said she's not interested,_ he thought. _Find somebody else to drool over._

He looked at the rest of the team. Ginger was taken, as were Alyssa, Susan, and Lisa. (Besides, he'd already been out on a date with Lisa.) He didn't really know the younger girls on the team; maybe one of them might be a good choice?

Justin, a friend from his and Isabella's math class, came over with Baljeet. "Hey, Phineas. Baljeet said these games were worth watching..." He looked up at the team of teenage girls in uniform. "...whoa. Okay, yeah. Hey, is that Isabella over there?"

"Yes, yes it is," Phineas answered.

"You two are always together. Are you...um..." Justin tried to get out the question.

Baljeet raised an eyebrow, awaiting Phineas's response.

"We're just good friends. I won't get upset if you ask her out, if that's what you're wondering."

"Cool!"

Baljeet frowned at Phineas, shaking his head.

* * *

Danville High won the game, and Phineas, Baljeet, and Justin went down to congratulate them. "Ginger, you did well!" Baljeet said, giving his girlfriend a kiss. Alyssa's boyfriend Clarke came off from the side to wrap the athletic blonde in a hug and kiss her deeply.

A curvy brunette volleyball player with deep brown eyes walked over toward Phineas as he reached the bottom of the bleachers. "Hi, Phineas," she said.

Phineas smiled at her, desperately trying to remember her name. "Hi...Marie, right? What's up?"

"We're having an after-game pizza party, would you like to go with me?"

Phineas was surprised, but smiled and said, "Sure!"

He saw Isabella's smile flicker a bit, but then she turned to Justin, right behind him. "Hey, Justin, want to go to the party with me?"

Justin smiled widely and said, "You read my mind."

* * *

**This will be seven chapters in all, posted one a day through next Saturday. Mostly this sort of relationship fluff.**


	2. Perfect

The party wasn't too large - twelve team members and ten dates - but they filled the small back room of the local pizza place. Alyssa and Clarke had staked out the back booth and were busily making out. Baljeet and Ginger were hovering near the pizza. Phineas and Marie had grabbed slices and were sitting at a table off to the side when Justin and Isabella arrived.

"Wait, your brother's dating a senior in college?" Marie was asking as Isabella sat down with her own pizza.

"Yeah, they started dating over the summer, but they've known each other for years. They got to spend the summer together, but it's mostly a long-distance relationship while she's at Marshwood State," Phineas responded.

"That's really weird that he's dating a woman so much older than him, though," Marie said.

Isabella shrugged. "It works for them."

"How about you?" Phineas asked. "Any brothers or sisters?"

"Just one," Marie said. "My sister Ruth is in eighth grade now."

"That's cool!" Justin said. "My little brother is too! David Arthur - maybe she knows him?"

"Oh my God. You're Dave Arthur's big brother? Ruthie had _such_ a crush on him last year."

Justin and Marie kept talking, their pizza growing cold as they stopped paying attention to anything but each other. Phineas tried to join the conversation, but they didn't even seem to notice. He looked at Isabella and shrugged, then went over toward the pizza; she decided to follow.

"Is it a bad sign when our dates are having a better time with each other than with us?" he asked.

Isabella looked over at the table; Marie and Justin hadn't noticed that they'd left yet. They looked like a matched pair; Justin looked young for his age, and could easily pass for Marie's younger brother despite being a year older. "I think so," she said. "On the other hand...they look perfect for each other."

Shaking his head, Phineas went over and tapped Justin on the shoulder. Justin started and looked up at him with an embarrassed look. "Oh, no, I'm sorry..." he said. Marie turned bright red and buried her face in her hands.

"Don't be," Phineas said. "I know better than to get in the way of something like this. Can you do me a favor?"

"Name it," Justin said.

"Can you get Marie home? Isabella lives across the street from me, so I can drop her off easily."

Marie looked back up at him apologetically. "I'm sorry..."

"Not a problem. Have a good time, you two," Phineas said.

* * *

Phineas drove home in the old Camaro he and Ferb had restored and updated, Isabella sitting beside him as she so often did.

"Well, that didn't work out so well," he said.

"It did for Justin and Marie," Isabella noted.

He laughed. "I suppose it did. Oh, well. It was worth a shot, even if it didn't pan out."

Isabella nodded. "Yeah. And, hey, they do look adorable together."

_I need to do this_, Phineas thought._ I never realized before._ "Um...I need to apologize to you."

Isabella cocked her head at him. "What for?"

"For what I did to you back when you had a crush on me. I never realized. Paris was probably bad enough, but now that I see where you were going...I think I really need to apologize for Valentine's Day. Was that was broke the crush?"

"Yeah. After that, I took the hint. You weren't interested."

Phineas nodded sadly. "For what it's worth...I'm sorry." Thoughts of telling her that, now that he realized, he might be interested after all flitted through his head, but he tamped them down.

"You didn't know," Isabella said. "I didn't tell you. It's not all your fault."

He pulled into his usual parking space on the street in front of the house; with four drivers in the house, the driveway was premium space reserved for his parents. Ferb's car, a Caterham Seven kit the boys had built together, was already parked just ahead of him.

"Thanks for driving me home, Phineas," Isabella said.

"De nada. Anything for my best friend."

Isabella smiled at him. "So, tomorrow's Saturday. Any great plans?" she asked.

"That awful English paper that's due next week. I figure I need to get my rough draft done this weekend."

She gave a defeated sigh. "Yeah. I need to work on that too."

"Feel free to come over and visit if you need a break," he said. "I'll probably want one too."

She smiled as she got out of the car. "I'll do that."

He waved goodbye to her as she walked back across the street, then headed inside himself.

"I got your message about the volleyball team's party. How did it go?" his mother, Linda, asked. "Did Isabella invite you?"

He shook his head; his and Isabella's mothers had been trying to get them together for years. He'd laughed about it with Isabella. Suddenly, he found it a lot less amusing. "No, another girl on the team, Marie. It didn't work out, and she got a ride home from Isabella's date."

"Oh," Linda said. "Well, then."

"Yeah. Not my best date ever. On the plus side, they do make a cute couple."

"I'm sure you'll find the right girl eventually," she said judiciously.

He nodded and headed upstairs. From Ferb's room, he heard Vanessa's voice through the open door, so he stuck his head in. "Hey, Vanessa. Hey, Ferb," he said, waving to the webcam. He waved to the platypus on the floor as well, "Hey, Perry." Perry lifted his head and chattered back.

Vanessa waved from the screen of Ferb's computer. "Hey, Phineas. How'd your date go?"

"She left with Isabella's date," he said. "A new low even for me."

Vanessa winced as Ferb said, "Ouch."

"So when do you get back here to visit again?" Phineas asked.

"Not until Thanksgiving," she said. "Looking forward to it. I miss my Ferb."

"And I miss you too," Ferb said, his fingers brushing her picture on the screen. "I'm hoping to be able to come up to visit some weekend."

Phineas shook his head. Despite only being in a relationship for a few months, the two of them clearly had a strong connection, and he wondered if he'd ever find something like that for himself. But that would involve a relationship surviving the first date, and he'd yet to manage that.

"I'll leave you two lovebirds to yourselves, then, before I need an insulin injection," Phineas said, picking up Perry and crossing the hall to his own room.

* * *

**So, yes, Justin and Marie are conceptually based on Jess and Marie in ****_When Harry Met Sally..._**

**I considered calling this chapter - or even this entire fic - ****_When Phineas Met Isabella_****, but it's not about when they met at all, and I couldn't figure out a good excuse for having Isabella fake an orgasm in the school cafeteria.**


	3. Reunion and Realization

**Cute as a button22: Almost entirely coincidence - the character from When Harry Met Sally... is named Marie, and while I changed Jess (which sounds short for Jessica to me) to Justin, I decided not to change Marie. (Although I did consider it, briefly, probably to Maria or Mary, just to prevent confusion with the female half of Thomarie.)**

* * *

Isabella was sitting behind Phineas, waiting for English class to start, when Cindy came over to talk to the red-haired boy. Isabella had been casual friends with Cindy for a couple years, and had accidentally introduced her to Matt, her now ex-boyfriend who'd broken up with her over the weekend. Discreetly, Isabella tried to listen to the conversation.

"Sure, I'd be interested," Phineas was saying to the tall, gangly brunette. "Friday night sounds great."

"It's a date, then," Cindy said. "We can work out the details after class." She went back to her seat, and Isabella sat back and pondered. _I wouldn't think Phineas is Cindy's type. Matt and Cindy both play basketball, and Matt's even taller than Cindy...and she's taller than Ferb. She's always liked them like Matt - tall, skinny, and not the sharpest knife in the drawer._

Mentally, she shrugged. _It's not like Phineas isn't used to single dates at this point. And, who knows, maybe it'll work out for him._

* * *

Phineas met Cindy at the Googolplex mall; she'd suggested going ice skating at the rink there, and he decided that sounded pretty good. They chatted as they put their skates on; she had no siblings, and wanted to major in exercise science when she went to college.

"I have some great ideas on how to motivate people to get themselves into their peak shape," she said, making him wonder just what she might see in him.

They skated around for a while; Phineas noticed she seemed to be looking around as if waiting for something. They returned their skates before stopping at the snack bar and sharing a tray of nachos. As Phineas was refilling their drinks, he saw Matt, apparently shocked to see the two of them together. Matt marched over to their table, arriving just as Phineas did with their sodas.

Matt looked down at Phineas disdainfully. "Really, Cindy? This is the best you could do?"

Cindy shrugged. "I decided I wanted a smart guy this time. One with enough brains to know what he wanted, and not throw it away."

Matt turned away, unable to respond.

"You gave up any right to complain about who I saw when you dumped me, Matt," Cindy continued.

Matt started to walk away, and Cindy smiled at Phineas, who was feeling more than a bit disconcerted by the whole situation.

Matt stopped, squared his shoulders, and turned back to Cindy and Phineas. "I'm sorry, Cindy. I screwed up."

She looked up at him flatly. "Yes. You did."

"Can I have another chance?"

She gave Matt just a hint of a smile. "Maybe. Call me tomorrow. If I'm not taken, we'll see where we stand."

Matt looked at Phineas, his eyes narrowing, then turned and stalked away.

Phineas exhaled.

"I'm sorry about that, Phineas," she said apologetically.

Phineas shrugged. "It's okay. Story of my dating life. Did he make you happy?"

Cindy sat back, a dreamy look on her face. "Yes. Yes, he did. When it worked, it really worked well. And then I started talking about the future, and being together after high school, and he flipped out."

Phineas nodded. "I don't want to be an obstacle between you two. If you want to go catch up with him and have that talk now, that's okay with me."

Cindy smiled at him. "You are far too nice a man for your own good, you know that, Phineas?"

Phineas sighed. "Yes."

Cindy leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you. I owe you for this." She trotted away after Matt.

Phineas picked up his drink and headed out to his car.

* * *

Phineas sat on the hood of his car, leaning against the windshield as he looked out over Danville from Vista Point, his breath steaming in the cold night air.

_My dates seem to be getting worse and worse_, he thought._ That's two in a row that I didn't even get to finish before she went off with somebody else._

_At least somebody came out of them happy, though. That's more than I've ever managed before._

_What's gone wrong? I get one date, and there's nothing there. No spark, no connection._

_Isabella says my friendship with her frightens them off, but I've never gotten to the point where it's even an issue._

He sighed. _What I'd give to get to the point where a girlfriend is actually jealous of Isabella. Where I've got someone I can be friends with, and also be in love with, and who wants my attention so much that my other friends are an imposition._

He could feel an answer dangling just at the edge of his consciousness, but whenever he tried to focus on it, it slipped away. He sipped his soda and tried to clear his mind using the meditation techniques Ferb had tried to teach him.

An image appeared in his mind - bright blue eyes, midnight-black hair, a ready smile. _Isabella._

_I can't. She doesn't want me._

_But I want her._ He took a deep breath. _That's it. That's been the problem all along. The other girls...aren't Isabella. I'm looking for a connection like that, and I've already got one._

He leaned his head back, banging his head on the glass. _I didn't want to see the answer, because it's only going to lead to pain. I might lose our friendship, and I don't ever want to do that. Being friends with her is far too important, because..._

_Because I want to be with her, and make her happy. Where is the line between friendship and love? I think I stumbled over it when I wasn't looking._

_Thank you ever so much, Baljeet and Ginger, for totally messing up my head. When our parents talked about us dating, it didn't really sink in, but when our friends suggested it...the idea stuck._

He took another sip of soda. _Now what do I do?_

His phone bleeped; he pulled it out of his pocket and checked it. _Speak of the devil..._ It was a text from Isabella.

**Hey, just saw Cindy change her Facebook status back to 'in a relationship with Matt'. You okay?**

He laughed out loud, and replied.

**Yeah, I'm okay. Just thinking. I've now had two dates in a row where somebody else cut in.**

His phone bleeped again.

**I don't think this one's entirely your fault. Matt works at the mall. I bet she set it up so he'd see you. That makes more sense than her wanting to date you.**

**Thanks. Your confidence in me is overwhelming.**

**Ack! Sorry, that wasn't how I meant that. You're really not her type. She likes them tall and not terribly bright.**

He laughed, and sent back, **I figured that was what you meant, just pulling your chain.**

**Why do we have such rotten dating luck, Phineas?**

_Now that I think about it, I suppose it's a good thing we never dated, given how bad our luck has been._

**In my case, I'd say it's karma for how I broke your heart when we were kids. In yours...I don't know, were you evil in a previous life?**


	4. Shattered

The next day was a rare Saturday game for the volleyball team; Phineas, as always, was there with Baljeet. Justin walked in, and Phineas waved him over. He joined them with an embarrassed smile; he'd been avoiding Phineas and Isabella in math class all week.

"It's okay, really, Justin. Marie and I weren't clicking - clearly you two are," Phineas said.

Justin's smile turned fondly reminiscent. "Oh, yeah. That we are."

The game started - Danville High put up a valiant fight, but Oak Ridge High won the first set. Between sets, Alyssa's voice suddenly rang out from under the stands.

"I don't _believe_ this! How _could_ you? After all we've meant to each other, this is what you do to me, Clarke? This is how my best friend treats me?"

Alyssa stormed out of the accessway to the area underneath the stands, followed closely behind by an apologetic-looking Clarke and Alyssa's friend Amie, who was quickly buttoning up her blouse.

"It isn't what it looked like..." Clarke said.

"What, you were screening her for breast cancer?" Alyssa yelled. She pulled a gold chain off from around her neck, then whipped Clarke's class ring off of the chain. She almost looked ready to throw it in his face, but she caught herself and slapped it into his hand. "Just...go. Before I do something I'd regret."

Amie slipped out of the gym; with a sigh, Clarke followed, his shoulders slumped.

Alyssa sat down on the bench hard. Isabella and Susan tried to comfort her, but she shook off their attempts. When play resumed, Alyssa seemed to vent her anger into the game, quickly turning the tables on Oak Ridge.

"Remind me never to tick her off," Justin muttered after a particularly vicious spike. Phineas could only nod.

* * *

Later that evening, Isabella waited for Phineas to arrive at her house to work on a physics lab report with her. She got the report template up on her computer, then caught up on her email while she waited.

Her mother leaned in the door. "Remember to keep the door open while you have a boy in your room, Isabella," she said with a smile.

Isabella sighed. _No, Mom, we're still not dating._ "Not a problem, Mom," she said with a forced smile.

"I'll be stopping by occasionally to check on you. Of course, I may be loud on the stairs, just in case."

"Not necessary, Mom. Really. We're just good friends."

Isabella's mother sighed. "I know, Isa."

"If that ever changes, I'll be sure to let you know."

"You're saying it might?" Isabella's mother's eyes got wide, and she left the room with a smile on her face.

_No. Not happening. I promised myself. No matter how tempting it may be. Not falling for Phineas again. Ever._

* * *

Isabella's mother, Vivian, greeted him at the door. "She's waiting for you up in her room, Phineas. Just go on up. Leave the door open, please."

"Of course, Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro. We always do," he answered, heading up the stairs. Isabella was sitting at her computer; he took a seat on the bed behind her, as far away as he could. She looked back at him and smiled, and it warmed him in a way he'd never noticed before. Off to the side, Pinky sat in his bed and gnawed on a bone.

"So what's our hypothesis?" she asked, and he read off the description from their notes. They worked through the report like this until they reached the point where they needed to do the number-crunching, then she came and joined him on the bed.

He could smell her lilac shampoo - fresh from her post-game shower - as their heads leaned together, calculating the data they needed for the lab report. His thoughts drifted off, and he had to repeatedly force himself to pay attention to what he was doing. She finished before him, then gave him an odd look as he raced to catch up with his share of the math.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just distracted." He winced inwardly as he realized what he'd said, as he knew what her next question had to be.

"What's up?"

He sighed. "Just thinking about my love life. Or lack thereof."

"You've had even worse luck than I have," she agreed. "Any idea why you can't get a second date?"

"No," he lied, idly scratching behind his ear.

Isabella looked at him for a moment, then shrugged and gave him a smile. "You'll figure it out eventually. And then some girl is going to snap you up."

* * *

_Why would he lie?,_ Isabella thought. She'd caught the ear-scratch that meant he was lying, and now that he'd headed home, she tried to figure out what he was lying about. Under the circumstances, it probably meant he was trying to protect her feelings; what could he have figured out that he'd be protecting her from?

_I bet he finally realized that it's being such good friends with me. Many of the girls in school won't date him at all, and the ones that will date him decide to get out after one date._

She sighed and idly scratched Pinky's ears. _If only I could fall for him. But then I remember Valentine's Day, and I just can't let myself get hurt like that again._

It had happened the winter after the rollercoaster and their first adventures together, when she was eleven. She'd worked so carefully on her valentine for him, but hadn't quite gotten up the courage to confess everything in it, so she'd just written that she wanted to be best friends with him forever, hoping it would be enough.

He'd thanked her for it, and smiled, and then he'd said, "I've been thinking about something you said that I didn't understand, and now it makes sense. Remember when Ferb and I carved our picture on a comet, and you said 'You had me at our grandchildren'?"

She'd been so happy she'd worried that she'd dropped into Phineasland again.

And then he'd continued, "I want to be best friends with you forever too. And when we get older, your kids and my kids might get together. And if they do, their kids will be our grandchildren!" and grinned at her triumphantly.

She'd been completely gutted, but had managed to keep from crying in front of him. She'd said, "Something like that, yeah," and gone back home as quickly as she could, spending the rest of the night crying in her bed.

She'd still had a bit of a crush on him after that, but it was never the same - he'd made it clear he wasn't interested in her in that way, and when Allen had moved to town a month or so later, she'd started to moon over him instead.

She'd rebuilt her friendship with Phineas, and it had grown even stronger once she'd given up on romance with him. The thought of dating him cropped up occasionally, especially when her mother started hinting about it, but she'd been able to make it go away with some effort.

_I'm just out of practice. I'll get through this, and still be friends with Phineas in the end._

* * *

**Thanks go out to 14AmyChan for helping me work out where to place this last scene, and for the conversation where I came up with the term 'weapons-grade obliviousness' to describe Phineas.**


	5. Ego

"Isabella, did you really agree to go out with Chad?" Ginger asked in the locker room the following Thursday.

"Yeah," Isabella said, trying to act more enthusiastic about it than she was.

"He's so handsome and popular," Lisa added. "I bet he'll show you a real good time."

"Only problem is that he totally knows how handsome he is," Ginger noted cautiously. "Be careful, okay?"

"I always am," Isabella said. She knew why she'd agreed to the date, and it wasn't any interest in Chad, who was far too stuck on himself; dating someone else was the best way to keep her mind off Phineas. She'd probably have accepted a date with anyone - even Irving - under the circumstances. It had worked before; that had been part of why she'd lasted three dates with Billy.

Alyssa spoke up. "Girls. Focus. Volleyball game, remember? We need to finish getting dressed for the game?"

* * *

Danville High had lost a close game against Lincoln High, and Phineas, Baljeet, and Justin went down to the court to console their friends.

Phineas took a deep breath. _Time to try. I know Isabella isn't interested, so I need to find somebody else as interesting and beautiful and fun and all-around incredible. Alyssa's the closest girl to that that I know, even if it is too soon after the blow-up with Clarke; I know she won't be interested in a long-term relationship yet, but right now, all I'd like is a chance at a second date._

_At least I don't need to worry about her taking back her ex-boyfriend during dinner._

"Alyssa?"

"Yes, Phineas?" she asked.

"Would you be interested in going out tomorrow night?" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Isabella's head snap up, then she suddenly put on a look of exaggerated disinterest. _She's got a date for tomorrow night already, with Chad. She's a big girl, I'm sure she knows what she's getting into._ "I know you're not up for much, but I figure a night out might help cheer you up."

Alyssa laughed, and Phineas's heart sunk. "I can't tomorrow; I'm sorry, I have a family obligation."

Phineas nodded. "Oh. Okay."

"However, if you can wait until Saturday, we can try then. I'm not really up to anything serious, though."

Phineas shook his head. "Not a problem. We can just go be friends together and get you back on your feet a bit."

"That sounds nice; thank you."

* * *

_This was the biggest dating mistake I've ever made,_ Isabella thought. Chad did indeed know just how popular and handsome he was, and she'd had to not-very-subtly prevent him from getting overly-grabby. Fortunately, he hadn't tried more than twice.

After dinner, he'd driven her out "somewhere special", which turned out to be an empty parking lot toward the edge of town; he slid across the bench seat of his pickup to be closer to her. "So, about the rest of the night..." he said.

"I think I'm done, Chad," she said.

"Aw, come on, the night is still young," he said, sliding his arm along the back of the seat.

Isabella opened the truck door and climbed out. "Chad, I said no. Repeatedly. I think I'd rather walk home from here than spend another minute in there with you. Goodbye, Chad."

Chad snorted, reached over, and closed the truck door. Jamming it into gear, he took off as quickly as he could.

Isabella started walking back to the main roads, pulling out her phone to see who could give her a ride. Phineas would jump at the chance, of course. Alyssa had her family thing, Ferb had hit the road right after school to go visit Vanessa for the weekend, most of her other friends were off on dates of their own, and she didn't want to deal with the questions her mother would ask.

_I should just call Phineas. But that's not useful when the idea is not falling for him._

Unfortunately, she couldn't think of a better option. She sighed and pushed the dial button.

"Hey, Isabella, what's up? Something go wrong with Chad?" Phineas said as he answered his phone.

"He was a jerk who was all hands. I decided I'd rather walk home than give him another chance to grope me, but it's a long walk from here. Any chance you can give me a lift?"

"Sure thing. Where are you? Are you somewhere safe?"

"Seventh Street between Ash and Willow. There's a Starbucks on the corner of Willow, I'll wait for you there?"

"Sounds good, I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

Fourteen and a half minutes later, she heard the distinctive exhaust of Phineas's old Camaro coming up Seventh Street, and he smoothly pulled to a stop in the parking lot. She hopped in, and handed him a cappuccino she'd bought while she waited, which he thanked her for.

"All hands?" Phineas asked as he pulled out into traffic.

"Yeah, and he didn't like taking 'no' for an answer. Thank you for this, Phineas."

"Hey, just balancing things out. I've had two dates where somebody else cut in, and now two other guys have had dates where I brought you home."

Isabella laughed, and sat back in the bucket seat. She looked over at the teenage boy next to her.

_Maybe it's not such a bad idea. Maybe Ginger's right, and we've changed enough that there's a chance._

_He'd certainly never try to push for anything I didn't want._

_Do I dare risk it? I've been fighting this for so long, am I willing to try it? He's never given me any indication he's interested, and he's got that date with Alyssa tomorrow._

_I don't know. I really just don't know._


	6. Meltdown

Isabella watched out the window as Phineas walked out to his car, climbed in, and drove off on his date. She sat back on her bed with a sigh.

_I hope he has a good time. Alyssa's just about perfect for him. Clarke was an idiot._

She fell back, lying down on her bed.

_I'm happy for him. Really. I am._

_Be happy for him, self. That's an order._

She'd dreamed about him the night before, which she hadn't done since before that awful Valentine's Day. He'd teleported them to a beach together, and they were sitting on a blanket and talking, and he looked at her with those big blue eyes and confessed his eternal love for her. And then Pinky showed up wearing a fedora, and fought some old woman who was trying to take over the Tri-State Area by some complicated method involving gathering all the world's ambergris. Which was ridiculous, but that was okay, it was a dream anyway, right?

_If only the first part hadn't made so much sense._

"Isabella, Ginger's here!" her mother yelled from downstairs.

Isabella had forgotten - Ginger was giving her a ride to a girls' night out with her former Fireside Girls troop. She heard clomping on the stairs, and Ginger stuck her head in. "You ready?"

Isabella, still lying down, said, "I don't think I'm up to going out, Ginger."

"Chad? I heard you bailed on him on the edge of town."

Isabella shook her head. "No, not Chad."

Ginger grabbed Isabella's hands and pulled her up to sitting. "What's wrong? Spill."

"You remember how I told myself not to fall for Phineas again?"

Ginger nodded, her eyes narrowing.

Isabella sighed, and with her eyes starting to water, said, "Apparently, I don't take orders well."

* * *

Alyssa climbed into the passenger seat of Phineas's car; he closed the door behind her, then walked around and seated himself into the driver's seat.

"Dad wasn't too bad to you, was he?" she asked.

"No, not at all. Mostly concerned about whether I was likely to pull the same thing as Clarke."

"If I had thought you were the type, I wouldn't have said 'yes'."

"Thanks. That's nice to hear."

Alyssa looked down at her hands. "I know I said this earlier, but you do realize I'm not up for anything resembling a long-term commitment, right?"

"That's okay. I don't know that I am either."

* * *

Ginger had texted the rest of the troop, saying they'd be late.

"It's all your fault, Ginger. You suggested going out with him," Isabella said through her tears, a faint smile curling the corners of her mouth.

"You started it. You were talking to him about the crush you used to have. Where did that come from?"

Isabella took a deep breath and tried to get her tears under control. "We were talking about all the cool things they built that summer. One thing led to another, and I mentioned dropping into Phineasland. He wasn't sure what that was."

"Did you mention Paris?"

"No," Isabella said. "Or Valentine's Day. He brought them up later, and apologized." Blinking back tears again, she looked at Ginger. "I know, loving Phineas can hurt. But right now...letting go of him hurts even more. And now he's out with Alyssa, and she's prettier than me and she's going to be looking for somebody trustworthy like Phineas and they're going to be perfect for each other and..." She started crying on Ginger's shoulder.

Ginger gently hugged Isabella, breaking the flow of words. "It'll be okay. It's their first date. Phineas has never even managed a second date with anyone. Alyssa just had her heart ripped out and shredded by her boyfriend. I'm amazed she accepted the date in the first place. Didn't they say it was pretty much just friends anyway?"

* * *

"The stupid thing is," Alyssa said as they waited for their food to arrive, "I always knew that was how things with Clarke would end. It started as just having fun together, but he always had his eye on other girls as well. And then we got more serious, and folks latched onto us as this perfect couple...and he still wanted more. I let myself hope he'd get over it, that if I could just love him enough, I could be everything he needed. I guess not."

"Why did he choose Amie?" Phineas asked.

Alyssa sat back. "Because she put out."

Phineas's eyes widened.

"I wanted to wait...I don't know. Until I knew he wouldn't start fooling around on me, I guess. It sounds stupid when I put it that way. I thought he was okay with waiting, but apparently she made him an offer he wasn't willing to refuse."

* * *

Isabella had washed the tears off her face, and was looking presentable again as Ginger drove them to the get-together.

"Ginger...please don't tell anyone about Phineas. I'm not ready for that yet. I need to know what he and I are going to do about this first."

Ginger said, "Deal, on one condition - you actually need to talk to him about this. Really talk about your feelings, instead of hinting around like you always did. He doesn't pick up on subtlety well."

"No, no he doesn't. I can't talk to him tomorrow - we're spending all day visiting Abuela Garcia - but I'll try on Monday."

"Don't _try_. You _tried_ when you were eleven. _Trying_ caused the Valentine's Day mess. _Do_ it. However the date with Alyssa goes."

Isabella took a deep breath. "Okay. I'll talk to him on Monday after volleyball practice."

* * *

"So what's the deal between you and Isabella? You've been acting really weird around each other the past couple weeks," Alyssa asked.

Phineas pondered for a moment, and said, "Ginger mentioned the idea of us getting together, and it suddenly hit me - Isabella isn't just my best friend, she's an incredible girl and I could totally fall in love with her. And just as that thought crossed my mind...Isabella said kissing me would be like kissing her brother."

"Owie. Welcome to Friendzone, population: you. That'll leave a mark."

"Yeah, it did. And now I'm afraid it's going to wreck our friendship either way - either I'm going to confess to her and she's going to say no, or I'm not and eventually I'll slip and freak her out anyway. I'm trying to go out with other people to give myself a chance to get over her."

"Can I make a couple suggestions?"

"I'm all ears."

"First off - if she hadn't said anything, would you have seriously said you were interested, or made some joke about it until you figured out your feelings?"

"...I don't know. You think she did that?"

"I wasn't there, so I can't say for sure. I can say that, given her reactions, the phrase that comes to mind is 'The lady doth protest too much, methinks.'"

Phineas nodded agreement. "I can see that."

"Second - if you're worried about wrecking your friendship either way, you might as well go out with honesty and hope. If you don't talk to her about this, you're doomed. If you do, it may blow up, or it may not, or you may find the feeling is mutual.

"Besides, it's not fair to other girls to go out with them while you're still carrying a torch for Isabella. What if she suddenly realizes you're interested? Somebody's going to get hurt."

"You're right," Phineas said. "I apologize for that. I'll talk to her. I need to get this off my mind."

* * *

Phineas pulled over in front of Alyssa's house. "Thanks for helping with my head," he said.

"You're welcome," she responded. "Thanks for listening. That was really what I needed right now." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "If Isabella's foolish enough to pass you up, maybe in a couple weeks when I'm more up to really dating, we can try this again."

"It's a deal."


	7. The Hypothetical Brother

Isabella sent Phineas a quick text message on Sunday morning before heading off to Abuela's.

**How'd the date with Alyssa go?**

The response came back quickly.

**Pretty well. How'd the girls' night go?**

**The usual. Talked about boys and school and boys and more boys. Did you get a second date?**

_Please say no..._

**Maybe, in a couple weeks.**

Isabella sighed. _Maybe? He's never gotten a maybe. Should I back off?_

_Why can't this be easy?_

* * *

Phineas waited in the hallway, hoping he'd remembered her schedule properly. Isabella had been off with her grandmother the day before, and he hadn't gotten up the courage to talk to her all day; they'd just finished their last classes, and she should be going from Spanish class to volleyball practice now.

Besides, staying here meant he didn't have to look at Ferb and the infuriatingly smug expression he'd had on his face ever since he got back from his visit with Vanessa.

The crowd of students heading through the hallway flowed past. As the torrent of students slowed to a trickle, he saw Isabella and fell in step beside her.

"Hi, Phineas," Isabella greeted him. "What's up?"

"Can we talk for a minute?" he asked.

"Sure," she said, stopping to one side of the hall. "I was about to ask you the same question. You go first."

"I need to apologize," Phineas said. "I haven't been completely honest with you."

She looked at him, puzzled.

"You asked why I hadn't managed a second date. I said I didn't know. That wasn't true. The real answer is..." He took a deep breath. "They weren't you. You were the one I wanted to be with. I just hadn't really realized it yet."

She blinked at him, wide-eyed, as if she didn't believe what she'd just heard.

"I'm sorry. I need to come clean on this. Better to get my feelings for you out in the open so we can move on. I know you don't love me back the same way - like kissing your brother, you said. I -" He was silenced as she placed her finger on his lips.

"Phineas, I don't have a brother," she said, stepping forward until their bodies almost touched. "And even if I did, I don't really think kissing him would be anything like kissing my best friend, whom I've finally realized I've been in love with all along." Her hand slid back along his cheek to the back of his neck, where it pulled him into a kiss.

It was like nothing he'd ever experienced. He'd had dates end in polite kisses at the front door before, but this was pure sensory overload. His arms slid around her as if on autopilot as all of his attention was arrested by the beautiful girl pressing herself against him, her warm, soft lips locked to his. It seemed to last an eternity in the blink of an eye.

Alyssa loudly said, "About time, you two!" to them as she walked past on her way to the gym. Startled, Phineas and Isabella broke the kiss and looked at each other with embarrassed smiles.

"Maybe we should continue this conversation somewhere a bit more private," he murmured.

She smiled at him, and said, "I have volleyball practice. But I'd really like to see you afterwards."

"Sounds good. I'll walk you over. Was this what you wanted to talk to me about?"

She nodded and took his hand as they walked toward the gym. "I don't _think_ that was like kissing my hypothetical brother, but we may need more testing to confirm that theory," she said.

"Sounds like dangerous research, but I think I'm game to try."

* * *

**Many thanks to my readers, reviewers, followers, and favoriters for your support. Your attention is a gift, and I thank you for it.**

**This started with the idea of Isabella getting over her crush, which led to the first and last scenes; I tried a couple other ideas for filling in the middle, but they became too dark and a bit too hurt/comforty.**

**My next story is almost done, and should get posted next weekend. Title is "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes," it's flirty Phinbella, and involves Phineas and Ferb coming up with an interesting invention to help Isabella as she recuperates from appendicitis.**


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